Although the 9.9 percent tuition hike for in-state students passed to the dismay of many, it might help keep psychology majors out of summer school.
Beth Kurtz-Costes, director of undergraduate studies for the psychology department, said with the number of students seeking a psychology degree increasing the department has had to turn to emergency funds in the office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences to meet demand.
The department is consistently trying to find ways to ensure that psychology majors are able to enroll in higher-level courses they need to satisfy the major.
But the tuition hikes might help the department hire more instructors for more sections, so the class of 2013 can graduate without summer classes, she said.
David Luong, a junior psychology and communications double major, said summer school should be a choice, not a last resort.
He added that summer school would limit opportunities to partake in internships or research.
“You should always be able to finish in the four years without summer school because the program is built for you to finish in four years.”
The psychology department is not the only one struggling with registration for its upper classes.
The political science department’s 400-level classes are its most popular, and the department is being forced to cut down on 200-level classes to create more of them, said Mark Crescenzi, associate professor in the political science department.
